Laegreid Outdoors

I've been distracted with things, so this week's post is a photos! The fiance and I camped in the Olympic National Forest this past weekend. It was beautiful, sunny and quiet, and just what we needed. So without further ado, here are some photographic highlights of the trip: This not-so little millipede had some striking yellow spots; I'd not seen one like it before.  These flowers were all over and very pretty. I'm pretty sure they're Trillium, but I could be wrong. If so, feel free to correct me in the comments! The Caddis hatch was on! What's camping without a good fire? The Peninsula was full of spiders sunning themselves, but this little fellow was the only one kind enough to hold still for a photo. See you next time!

March 29 The day dawned comfortably grey and rainy as I sneaked out of bed. My fiance slept soundly as the door closed behind me and I began the two-hour drive to Rockport, Washington and the gorgeous Skagit River. When I made my usual pre-drive stop at Cowgirls Espresso, the barista asked, as per usual, if I was going fishing. "Not today." Now, sane people usually don't drive for hours to prime steelhead water specifically not to fish, but then, those who pursue the grey ghosts are not well-known for their sanity, and the event I was driving to was created in protest of laws that make little sense. What Laws? To avoid writing a book, lets break it down to its simplest form. Laws regarding wild steelhead are, in the opinion of the Occupy Skagit (OS) movement * , a wee bit wonky.   All wild Puget Sound steelhead are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act . This would be great, if all Puget Sound steelhead populations faced the same pressures and ...

It's that time of year again. Baby salmon are swimming out of the rivers en mass, the days are getting longer, and Sea-Run Cutthroat trout (SRC) are reappearing in Puget Sound. This past weekend I was able to connect with one of these feisty fish on a beach in Marine Area 13 , also known as the magical South Sound. There are a few great things about this fishery; the first of which is the quarry. The SRC's are amazing trout, powerful for their size, aggressive, gorgeous, and elusive. They provide one of the Northwest's most unique fishing experiences, and oh man am I glad to be able to take advantage of it. Image borrowed from the Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife , since I have yet to take a good picture of one. The second great thing about the SRC fishery is the location. I love Puget Sound, from Deception Pass to Budd Inlet, but good SRC beaches are my absolute favorite. They are full of life, from weird little crawling things scooting between barnacle-cove...

So wow, it's been a while! I apologize for my absence, dear readers, but I will say that it has been for a good reason. I have been busy and sick and busy, but was able to land the most amazing catch of my life recently at Westport, WA. My girlfriend and I had decided to do a little getaway to the sleepy town at the edge of everything. I like to fish off the jetty there; it has a variety of fun and unusual fish like rockfish, ling-cod, surf-perch and greenling. In the days running up to our trip it was a little disheartening when the weather report said wind and rain for the whole weekend, and it was downright depressing when we got there and the forecast was correct. The wind was pretty intense, which made the rain rather unpleasant, but we had the hotel booked and were going to make the best of it. If you've never been to Westport, it is a small fishing town on the Washington coastline, right at the mouth of Greys Harbor. During the salmon season, Westport is a busy place, ...

Happy Friday, everyone! It's been a busy week and I haven't gotten out much, so today's post will be about some neat things I found on the internet! As you may know, water is pretty important to outdoorsy people such as myself. We need it to hydrate our bodies, and to do many activities (fishing, swimming, surfing, etc.) there must be a large amount of clean water. Unfortunately, we humans are GROSS and put a whole lot of nasty stuff into the water on this planet. It's a bad thing and we should feel bad. There is hope, however, hope from two somewhat unexpected, natural sources: oysters and mushrooms. Take a look! Oysters Oysters are masters of purifying water. They might look like they're just sitting there, but one adult oyster can filter something like two gallons of water per hour, and they filter it right good . They are also good at building structure (called reefs) that provide habitat for other briny creatures and can protect shorelines from wave d...

In my last post, 10 Ways to Stay Outdoorsy in the Office , I mentioned music as being a way to connect with the outdoors, which it is. Not mentioned, however, is the influence music can have on your outdoor activities. I recently took up running, a sport which I had previously held in disdain, as it makes me hurt. In the past year or so, however, I've noticed that I've expanded a bit, and parts of me jiggle now that never did before. This is a problem. Here's a break-down of what's going on: The problem: I'm now a chunk. The culprit: A severe lack of cardio and a lot of sitting in an office. Also junk food. The cure: More cardio and a better diet. The question: How do I get my lazy butt to move and lose weight? The answer: Music! And by  removing soda from my diet and bringing lunches to work, but that's not what this post is about. I chose running for a few reasons. The first is that my best friend is a runner ( hey Andrew ), and he has always bee...

This has nothing to do with the blog, but I made it and think it's cool. You're a person that loves the outdoors, but you, like me and millions of our outdoorsy friends, work a job in a stuffy office, far from the rolling hills, majestic mountains, babbling brooks and crashing waves that you love. How is someone supposed to keep their sanity while working 40+ hours a week under fluorescent lighting? Here is a list of some basic things you can do to bring a little bit of the outdoors into your work-week: Decorate your cube/office: Your workspace is your home for five days a week, make it your space. Are you a fly tyer? Get a shadowbox with  your favorite flies in it. Runners could do a motivational poster with Steve Prefontaine on it. If you just like the outdoors, maybe a plant or even a tiny desk-fountain could brighten your day. Just remember to keep it classy (frame the poster of Pre, don't use masking tape to hang it) and make sure you keep the decoratio...